Classic Processors

ARM Classic processors include the ARM11™, ARM9™ and ARM7™ processor families. These processors are still widely licensed around the globe, providing cost-effective solutions for many of today's applications.

With over 20 billion devices in the market, developers have assurance their processor meets the exacting nature of their applications and can leverage the mature tools ecosystem that has evolved over 20 years.

Why Classic ARM?

Compare Processors

Technology

Classic ARM Licensees

Resources

Industry Standard

Classic ARM processors have been available for over 15 years, with the ARM7TDMI^® still the highest shipping 32-bit processor on the market. With over 1 Billion devices shipping every quarter, or over 90 per second, and in excess of 500 licenses, this wide range of processors continues to be at the heart of over one quarter of all electronic products shipped today.

The full list of licensees is available here

Range of Applications

Over 15 Billion Classic ARM processors shipped

The Classic ARM processors consist of three processor families and contain eight processors that continue to be widely licensed today for numerous applications.

ARM7 Family - ARM7TDMI-S™ and ARM7EJ-S™ processors
ARM9 Family - ARM926EJ-S™, ARM946E-S™ and ARM968E-S™ processors
ARM11 Family - ARM1136J(F)-S™, ARM1156T2(F)-S™, ARM1176JZ(F)-S™ and ARM11™MPCore™ processors

Cost Effective

From a single design to perpetual ownership

Processors are available to license in a number of forms
Available as per-use, multi-year term, and perpetual use licenses.
Many available as hard-macros to reduce time-to-market and design risks

Ecosystem

In excess of 650 members in the Connected Community supporting ARM processors

Key open source projects specifically targeting ARM instruction set architecture
Broadest ecosystem of compilers, debuggers and RTOS tools in the industry
Plentiful design services partners to aid in design task
Large variety of third party IP available to integrate with processors

Family	Processor	Description	Cortex Alternative
ARM11	ARM11MPCore	This processor was the first to introduce multi-core technology and continues to be licensed for a wide array of applications including mobile handset, navigation devices, and smartbook applications.	Cortex-A9 Cortex-A5
	ARM1176JZ(F)-S	The highest performance uni-core processor in the Classic ARM family the ARM1176JZ(F)-S introduced TrustZone^® technology to enable secure execution outside of the reach of malicious code. Widely licensed for a vast array of applications it is used in today's leading-brand mobile handsets, set top boxes, digital TVs, high-end photo frames and many other applications.	Cortex-A9 Cortex-A8 Cortex-A5
	ARM1156T2(F)-S	The highest performance of the real-time Classic ARM processors the ARM1156T2(F)-S introduced the Thumb®-2 instruction set architecture for the first time. This processor is useful in high performance deterministic control system such as automotive, industrial control and robotic solutions.	Cortex-R4
	ARM1136J(F)-S	The ARM1136J(F)-S is in many ways similar to the ARM926EJ-S but with extended pipeline, frequency and performance. The processor also introduced basic SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) instructions to enhance codec performance, plus optional floating-point support.	Cortex-A5
ARM9	ARM968E-S	The smallest and lowest power ARM9 processor is ideal for many real time type applications. The processor operates efficiently from the Tightly Coupled Memory integrated easily through standard interfaces.	Cortex-R4
	ARM946E-S	A real time orientated processor with optional caches interfaces plus a full Memory Protection Unit. This processor is useful in applications where the majority of code exists in main memory, and is loaded into cache on demand, while key exception handing code and data can be maintained locally in Tightly Couple Memory.	Cortex-R4
	ARM926EJ-S	The ARM926EJ-S is the entry point processor capable of supporting full Operating System including Linux, WindowsCE, and Symbian. As such this processor is ideal for many applications requiring a full Graphical User Interface	Cortex-A5
ARM7	ARM7TDMI-S	This processor is an excellent workhorse processor capable of a wide array of applications.Traditionally used in mobile handsets, the processor is now broadly in use in mobile and non-mobile applications.	Cortex-M3 Cortex-M0

For a detailed comparison between Classic ARM processors and the latest Cortex alternatives, please use the Processor Selector.

The Classic ARM Cores are built upon three major generations of technology enabling them to service a wide array of applications.

Technology	ARM7 Family ARMv4T Architecture	ARM9 Family ARMv5TE Architecture	ARM11 Family ARMv6 Architecture
ARM ISA	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thumb ISA	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thumb-2 ISA	No	No	Yes (ARM1156T2-S Only)
DSP Extensions	No	Yes	Yes
SIMD Extensions	No	No	Yes
Jazelle Bytecode Support	No	Yes (ARM926EJ-S Only)	Yes (Except ARM1156T2-S)
Floating Point Support	No	Yes (VFP9)	Yes (VFP11)
TrustZone Security Extensions	No	No	Yes (ARM1176JZ(F)-S Only)
Cache Support	No	Yes	Yes
TCM Support	No	Yes	Yes

ISA - Instruction Set Architecture

SIMD - Single Instruction Multiple Data

TCM - Tightly Couple Memory

ARM11 Processor Family

Processor	Public Licensees
ARM11 MPCore	Intel Corporation, NEC Electronics, Netronome, NVIDIA, PMC Sierra, Renesas, Sarnoff, eSilicon
ARM1176JZ(F)-S	Broadcom Corporation, Infineon Technologies AG, Matsushita, NEC Electronics, NXP,Renesas, Sunplus, Texas Instruments , Toshiba, eSilicon
ARM1156T2(F)-S	Comsys, LSI Logic, NEC Electronics
ARM1136J(F)-S	Accent, Broadcom Corporation, Ceroma, eSilicon Corporation, Freescale, LSI Logic, Matsushita, Mindspeed, NEC Electronics, Qualcomm, Renesas, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments , Toshiba